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LETTERS: John Urquhart How Islam changed medicine: Ibn Sina (Avicenna) saw medicine and surgery as one BMJ 2006; 332: 120-b [Full text]

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Did Islam really change medicine?

David W. Wood   (13 January 2006)

No coincidence

S. Younas   (29 May 2007)

Did Islam really change medicine? 13 January 2006
David W. Wood, Retired Consultant Anaesthetist Durham Send response to journal: Re: Did Islam really change medicine?	The article title "How Islam changed medicine" together with the same title which the BMJ has applied to the ensuing correspondence is surely a little misleading. In today's climate, where religion in general has acquired a bad press as a force for good in the world, to credit a particular religion as a medical pioneer is quite wrong. Let us remember that it is PEOPLE who are responsible for the progress of medicine, not any particular religion. Competing interests: None declared
No coincidence 29 May 2007
S. Younas, House Officer Fairfield General Hospital Send response to journal: Re: No coincidence	Yes, David Wood, that is a fair point. However, from what little I know about the Islamic era, I do not feel that the advancements in erudition and practice simply coincided with the establishment of Islam, but that they were intimately related. Numerous quotes, or ‘hadiths’, from the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him, who revealed the Islamic message) have been accurately recorded, relating to the need to educate and become educated. Such examples include: “The search of knowledge is an obligation laid on every Muslim.” (Ibn Majah, Baihaqi). “He who goes out in search of knowledge is in God's path till he returns.” (Tirmidhi, Darimi) “The one who would have the worst position in God's sight on the Day of Resurrection would be a learned man who did not profit from his learning.” (Darimi) Muhammed (PBUH) (who, incidentally, has been ranked 1st in “The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History” by Michael H. Hart), his character and his message had a far-reaching influence on his people and of the subsequent generations that as a result shaped the height of Islamic civilisation. Were it not for the many teachings of Islam that encouraged the need to ask questions, to seek and acquire knowledge and as a result to broaden horizons in the fields of science, art, astronomy, healthcare and philosophy amongst other things, the Muslims of that era may not have felt so empowered to achieve what they, thankfully, have managed to achieve. Thus, I feel that Islam is inherently or at least indirectly linked to the advancements that the Arabs from the Islamic era acomplished. Perhaps the decline of such zeal in learning and progressing is a reflection of how poorly Islam is practiced by people on a societal scale(which is VERY difficult in today's climate), in the way that it was practiced in the Islamic era. However, I appreciate that the two are not mutually exclusive, and that many factors have been involved in the disintergration of the Islamic civilisation over the last number of centuries. Competing interests: None declared